Pacific Flyway:Pacific Coast RouteAlthough it does present features of unusual interest, the Pacific coast route is not as long or heavily traveled as some of the others described. Because of the equitable conditions that prevail, many species of birds breeding along the coast from the northwestern states to southeastern Alaska either do not migrate or else make relatively short journeys. This route has its origin chiefly in western Alaska, around the Yukon River delta. Some of the scoters and other sea ducks of the north Pacific region as well as the diminutive Cackling Canada Goose of the Yukon River Delta use the coastal sea route for all or most of their southward flight. Large numbers of arctic-breeding shorebirds also use this route. The journey of the Canada Goose, as shown by return records from birds banded at Hooper Bay, Alaska, has been traced southward across the Alaskan Peninsula and apparently across the Gulf of Alaska to the Queen Charlotte Islands. The birds then follow the coast line south to near the mouth of the Columbia River, where the route swings toward the interior for a short distance before continuing south by way of the Willamette River Valley. The winter quarters of this subspecies of Canada Goose are chiefly in the vicinity of Tule Lake, on the Oregon-California line, and in the Sacramento Valley of California, although a few push on to the San Joaquin Valley. A tributary of this flyway is followed by Ross' Goose, which breeds in the Perry River district south of Queen Maud Gulf and other areas farther east on the central arctic coast of Canada (Figure 21). Its fall migration is southwest and south across the barren grounds to Great Slave and Athabaska Lakes, where it joins thousands of other waterfowl bound for winter homes along the eastern coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico. But when Ross' Geese have traveled south approximately to the northern boundary of Montana, most of them separate from their companions and turn southwest across the Rocky Mountains to winter in California. In recent years more Ross' Geese have been found wintering east of the Rocky Mountains along with flocks of Snow Geese, a change that may be correlated with an eastward extension of their breeding range |
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Hunters can report bands by calling the toll-free number (800-327-BAND) THE NORTH AMERICAN BIRD BANDING PROGRAMBands Across North America |
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Geese Flyways
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Flyway Corridors
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